Press Room

"At the March for Integrated Schools in 1959, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. urged people to, ‘Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights.’ On a day in his honor, we must commit to this fight in his memory, dedicating ourselves to that struggle - the endless agitation toward equal justice, in the face of ongoing oppression.

"This calling toward the cause of humanity resonates ever louder in this moment, as New York continues to welcome thousands of people seeking asylum to our city. City and state leadership can neither ignore this challenge nor aggravate it by stoking tensions and resentments. We have to actively choose to unite those who are suffering, not allow the adoption of an “us or them” mindset with our newest and aspiring New Yorkers. Look to Dr. King’s example – he would fiercely condemn and fight anti-Black inequity, which is very much alive, and in the same breath call to support all who are struggling against oppression, for ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’

"Rev. Dr. King knew that the movement is strongest when all who have seen injustice in our systems stand by and for one another, rather than sowing division among people most marginalized, we must all grow the movement together, rooted in compassion and conviction.

"In pushing forward on the path for justice, we must recognize the true obstacles and opponents in the way. There will be many who strip Dr. King’s words of their context today in an effort to sanitize their meaning, to align themselves with a man they would have maligned in life, a mission they actively oppose even now.

"We cannot sit idly by in the face of injustices and inequities, and so we must stand, march, and re-commit ourselves to the vocation of agitation. If we center the humanity that Dr. King spoke of, we can ‘make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.’ May we all make that our mission."

"A budget is a moral document, a statement of values, and as a progressive city, the capacity of government to do good should be a core value. Disinvestment in government staff and services is disinvestment in the people of New York. Cutting open positions, rather than taking steps to fill them with talented, dedicated public servants, has real, human cost in preventing programs from succeeding.

"Financial constraints and economic concerns are real, and it is in these difficult climates when progressive budgeting is at once more challenging and most critical. In that spirit, it sends the wrong message to see some areas such as housing and mental health suffer, while others such as law enforcement are insulated. That is ultimately not a sustainable path to producing public safety, or preserving public services. 

"The mayor is right that we need state and federal support to fund services for the 40,000 newest New Yorkers – our asylum seekers. New York City should not – and cannot – be solely financially responsible for conservative governors’ political machinations. We also need to look to our state government for measures to raise additional revenue, rather than cut additional and essential services. 

"Our budget must balance fiscal and human responsibility. As the process moves forward, I will work with the administration, Council, and advocates to ensure that the needs of the people are prioritized, and the standards of our city’s progressive, human centered-values are met."

"As the cost of living continues to rise for New Yorkers, immediate and long-term affordability for working families across our city and state is a vital focus. We’ve fought to raise the minimum wage for over a decade, and both increasing and indexing it to inflation are crucial, as is using the reach and resources of state government to provide relief, security, and economic opportunity.

"Nowhere is this more clear than the single largest expense for New Yorkers - housing. Many of the governor’s proposals were encouraging, including setting new targets for creating hundreds of thousands of units and making it easier to create that housing statewide. As I argued before the speech, making these new homes income-targeted is just as important, if not more so. If the government is taking steps to encourage responsible development, whether through subsidizing or streamlining, that support should only come in exchange for deeply affordable housing.

"Additionally, no housing plan is real without including preservation strategies, and new housing without sufficient tenant protections and foreclosure prevention will not be enough to keep New Yorkers in their homes. The progressive path forward to address the housing and homelessness crisis in our state is one that puts people over profits, communities over corporations. The housing headlines from the governor’s speech are promising, but the real challenges and fights lay ahead in the specifics, and I will continue to fight for true housing justice as these plans are moved toward action."

As Governor Kathy Hochul is set to deliver her State of the State address, City Limits has published an op-ed by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams entitled 'Governor Hochul’s State of Housing,' which explores the shortcomings of the housing policies of this and previous governors, and sets a bold, urgent, necessary agenda to meet the crisis in New York City and statewide – not just in number of units, but in levels of affordability. The Public Advocate calls for the Governor to pursue housing strategies that put people over profit, in this speech and throughout her upcoming term.

"As Governor Kathy Hochul is set to deliver the speech that could define her first full term, she has an opportunity to set a path of real progress on housing. But she will have to break the patterns of past leadership—and her own first year in office," argues Public Advocate Williams after harkening back to the resistance of then-Governor Cuomo to housing reforms. "... If steps are going to be taken by the government to encourage responsible development, whether through subsidizing or streamlining, that support should only come in exchange for deeply affordable housing, not market-rate. Everything is “affordable” to someone, and too often we have seen that label applied to housing entirely unaffordable to the current residents of a community, which only spurs gentrification and displacement while neither meeting the housing crisis in a neighborhood nor providing the supply that could lower costs city and statewide."

After calling for the overdue passage of Good Cause Eviction protections, the Worst Landlord Accountability Act on the city level, and a model of housing owned by communities of tenants, the Public Advocate makes clear that "Enacting all of this means rejecting those in real estate who stand as power players and powerful donors—one area where the governor is at best following, if not going further in the wrong direction than, her predecessor. The answers to New York’s housing and homelessness crisis do not come in private fundraisers and are not fueled by big checks—they come from the tenants and would-be owners struggling to find and remain in their homes. In this year’s State of the State, I hope to see a governor ready to listen to those voices, not provide lip service in service of the status quo."

Read the Public Advocate’s full piece below, and find it online here.

Governor Hochul's State of Housing

By New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams

When we asked the last governor for housing reforms, he had us arrested.

In June of 2019, I joined hundreds of advocates for a sit-in outside then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office—an act of civil disobedience in support of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, which would ultimately be the largest advancement for tenant rights in decades.

That monumental achievement, fueled by a coalition of advocates and elected officials from all across the state, provided vital security and relief for tenants. But the reluctance of past city and state leaders to embrace—in some cases, their efforts to actively oppose—true housing justice have left New York mired in a housing and homelessness crisis that sees shelters full and failing, rents rising to historic highs, conditions deteriorating, and ownership entirely out of reach for many New Yorkers. Moving forward requires leadership that recognizes the scope of this failure and is willing to make housing New Yorkers a true top priority, with a truly bold agenda.

As Gov. Kathy Hochul is set to deliver the speech that could define her first full term, she has an opportunity to set a path of real progress on housing. But she will have to break the patterns of past leadership—and her own first year in office.

In her first State of the State, the governor promised 100,000 units of nominally affordable housing across the state. As I said at the time, that number would not even come close to meeting the needs here in the five boroughs, much less statewide, and seemed to show a lack of understanding or urgency related to the housing crisis. Since then, she has increased that target to 800,000 new units, and as Mayor Eric Adams has agreed, the majority of those units will be in the city—though the affordability targets remain unclear. In this year’s blueprints, the governor and mayor must each support strategies that truly meet the scope and urgency of this housing crisis.

As I pushed for while running statewide, we need an increased goal of 1,000,000 affordable housing units built and preserved—that campaign is over, but the housing crisis and need for these units are not. Just as important as the target number of units, though, is making these homes income-targeted. If steps are going to be taken by the government to encourage responsible development, whether through subsidizing or streamlining, that support should only come in exchange for deeply affordable housing, not market-rate. Everything is “affordable” to someone, and too often we have seen that label applied to housing entirely unaffordable to the current residents of a community, which only spurs gentrification and displacement while neither meeting the housing crisis in a neighborhood nor providing the supply that could lower costs city and statewide.

Creating these units is vital—at the same time, it’s just as important that we ensure New Yorkers can stay in these homes, both through foreclosure prevention and eviction protections. A tide of evictions continues even as waves of the pandemic repeatedly rise, and tenants lack a critical safeguard cast aside by Governors Cuomo and Hochul alike—Good Cause Eviction protections.

Good Cause Eviction legislation—one piece of the 2019 package which did not pass—would give renters living in non-rent-stabilized units the right to a lease renewal, and prevent landlords from kicking tenants out without a valid reason. Additionally, it would help prevent the kind of massive rent increases we have seen in the city over the last year.

Landlords have long tried to kick out tenants in an effort to raise prices—but in recent months and years we have seen that if they are unable to gouge new tenants for new profits, they often prefer to leave units vacant, allowing the housing crisis to deepen and conditions in buildings to deteriorate. When my office released our Worst Landlord Watchlist last month, we toured buildings all-but abandoned by their owners, left to disrepair as tenants themselves worked to maintain their buildings.

We need to pass city legislation to hold these landlords accountable, including my Worst Landlord Accountability Act, but we also need to give tenants themselves the chance to take ownership of their homes. This is the year to enact the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act on a state level, granting tenants priority purchasing power if their buildings are put up for sale. The Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, on the city level, can also aid in this area by helping nonprofits to acquire buildings and collaborate with tenants through community land trusts.

This question of ownership is crucial, and as landlords and corporations continue to place profits over people and even their own properties, it is time to move to create alternatives to this model. Housing owned by communities of tenants, rather than corporations, is the path forward. While investing to reverse decades of decline in New York’s public housing, the state and city should be making efforts to acquire, preserve, and develop properties that can be owned and managed through community land trusts, occupied by tenants across the income spectrum.

Enacting all of this means rejecting those in real estate who stand as power players and powerful donors—one area where the governor is at best following, if not going further in the wrong direction than, her predecessor. The answers to New York’s housing and homelessness crisis do not come in private fundraisers and are not fueled by big checks—they come from the tenants and would-be owners struggling to find and remain in their homes. In this year’s State of the State, I hope to see a governor ready to listen to those voices, not provide lip service in service of the status quo.

I’m happy to return to the governor’s door this year, and I know tenants across the city and state would join, in an effort to convene and collaborate on a housing agenda as bold in New York’s history as it is basic to New Yorkers’ needs. But having been here before, heard promises before, I’m left to wonder—would our voices be heard through the glass, would our proposals be let inside?

"In the wake of a second asylum seeker losing their life to suicide, and in anticipation of another increase in arrivals, we must examine the holes in our service infrastructure, especially in the area of mental health, to help prevent future pain. People who have come to our city seeking asylum have endured immense trauma, which must be met with increased empathy and treated with elevated mental health services. In a city with longstanding inadequacies in both mental health support and the shelter system broadly it is clearly not enough to do what we have done in the past – we must do more, and to provide more aid to asylum seekers, we must receive it from our governing partners.

"While I’m grateful that the federal spending bill will include money to help cities meet the needs of asylum seekers, I also fear putting New York in competition with other cities for funding will ultimately mean less aid for those who need it most. At the same time, New York City should not be alone in bearing the challenge of this crisis – the Governor should work with additional cities to house asylum seekers statewide. This is a national crisis that has become a New York crisis, and with the expectation of an increase in people arriving in the coming weeks, we cannot wait to put in place the plans and the resources necessary to meet the need."

Just following the release of the 2022 Worst Landlord Watchlist, Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams will advance the second piece of legislation in his Worst Landlord Accountability Act to combat the practices of some of the worst landlords in New York City and support tenants in need of relief and repairs. During today’s City Council Stated Meeting, he will re-introduce Intro 862, which would require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to more quickly respond to and perform inspections of hazardous violations. This year’s Worst Landlord Watchlist had the most violations in the history of the list, including thousands of immediately hazardous violations in hundreds of buildings around the city.

“Yesterday, we named, shamed, and spotlighted the worst landlords in our city – and the most violations in the history of the list,” sad Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “Today, I’m eager to take another step forward in holding bad actors accountable legislatively. The Worst Landlord Accountability Act is about preventing landlords from evading consequences and protecting their tenants from conditions which are physically unsafe or otherwise insecure. Moving these bills forward must come with additional resources for city agencies to meet the requirements of the legislation and the responsibility to improve conditions and prevent the worst landlords from continuing these patterns of negligence as the cost of doing business.”

Today, tenants can wait for excessive periods of time while struggling with immediately hazardous violations like lack of heat and hot water. Under this new legislation, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development would be required to communicate with a complainant reporting Class C violations within 12 hours, and perform an inspection, if warranted, within 24 hours. HPD would also have to communicate regarding Class B violations within 24 hours, and perform an inspection within 48 hours. No violation can be closed until it has been certified to be corrected to the satisfaction of HPD. This new and clear timeline would both protect tenants and pressure landlords, deterring the egregious negligence happening in hundreds of buildings across the city and displayed yesterday in Washington Heights.

The 2022 Worst Landlord Watchlist included a record-breaking number of violations; across the entire list, there were a staggering 69,018 violations, nearly a 30% increase from the previous year. The worst landlord in New York City this year, Jonathan Santana, had an average of 2980 HPD open violations – 106% more average violations on average than last year. The landlords on this year’s list had a combined 18,305 Class C violations, and 36,960 Class B violations, whereas last year’s one hundred worst landlords had 13,103 Class C violations and 30,549 Class B violations.

The Public Advocate has also advanced Intro 583, the second component of the Worst Landlord Accountability Act, with the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings holding a hearing last week on the legislation. Intro 583 would require HPD to maintain a certification of correction list and prohibit any listed landlord from certifying correction of violations in multiple dwellings without an inspection. This would prevent landlords already identified as bad actors from falsely claiming repairs have been made. At last week’s hearing, Public Advocate Williams spoke out in support of Intro 583, saying, “​​As we soon move into the new year, it is critical that we take swift action to hold the worst landlords accountable. We need to invest the resources to stop them from handling these violations and fines as negligible, or the cost of doing business, and combat the notion that making profit is much more vital than their own tenants.”

The bill would also increase penalties for failure to correctly certify. A landlord who fails to file a statement of registration or an amendment of a statement of registration will have to pay a fine of anywhere between $500 and $1,000. Anyone willfully making a false certification of correction of a violation will have to pay between $500 and $2,500 for each violation falsely certified, as well as any other penalties required. Additionally, penalties would increase for hazardous violation of housing standards based on severity.

Each year, the Public Advocate's office releases the Worst Landlord Watchlist, which spotlights the top 100 most egregiously negligent landlords in New York City as determined by widespread and repeated violations in buildings on the list. The 2022 list was released yesterday – read it, and review the newly designed and expanded Watchlist website, here.

Read the text of Intro 862 here and more about Intro 583 here.